On January 1st, the steps of New York City Hall witnessed history. Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as NYC’s first Indian-Muslim mayor. Also on January 1st, on those very same steps, came the pitter-patter of First Lady Rama Duwaji’s black lace-up Shelley boots by London-based label Miista, boots that would soon take over headlines.
But amid all that discourse, about politics and fashion and political fashion, you may have missed a small detail: Rama’s shoes, and much of her inauguration wardrobe, weren’t bought. They were rented.
As lived-in as they looked, like second skin rather than statement, the boots (and coat, and other archival pieces) were borrowed through stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, a longtime friend of Rama and the stylist behind both her and Zohran’s public looks.
Renting clothes, especially expensive and hand-tailored ones, isn’t exactly a radical idea. It’s long been standard practice in high-profile moments. Many red-carpet looks? Rented. Met Gala wardrobes? Borrowed. Awards season? A circulating closet, if there ever was one. Even the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, owes a significant portion of her public-facing wardrobe to the cycle of rented fashion.
And if the word rent still makes you uncomfortable, you can always opt for its chic-er synonym: borrowed. For the longest time, renting has lived in the same cultural category as thrifting: trashy when done by low-income people, aspirational when done by high-income people. In a society where status is measured by purchasing power, the idea of exiting the buy-wear-repeat cycle has never exactly been encouraged. When brands want permanence, renting implies mobility.
But just like thrifting, the tides might finally be turning.
Renting entered the mainstream in 2009 with Rent the Runway, the e-commerce subscription service that promised rotating access to designer clothes for a monthly fee. You got the thrill of retail therapy, minus the commitment, and on an off-the-rack budget. Since then, circular fashion has been slowly shaking off its stigma and reframing itself as a smarter, conscious, and more sustainable way to dress.
“I wanted circular fashion to feel just as exciting as shopping new,” says Rosie Gunn, founder of Endless, a UAE-based fashion rental platform. “Endless exists to empower women to look and feel their best, while giving them the opportunity to access and earn from premium wardrobes through a circular model that celebrates individuality.”
And it didn’t take Dubai’s famously event-obsessed culture long to catch on.
Endless allows users to rent or buy luxury items, or list their own pieces to earn from them, a system Gunn explains works exceptionally well in the UAE. “Endless lets you rent or buy premium and luxury items, or list your own pieces with us to earn from them. We handle everything, the platform, delivery, cleaning, and returns, so it’s genuinely hassle-free,” she explains. “You simply choose what you love and enjoy wearing it.”
According to Gunn, the appeal of rental fashion has less to do with a demographic and more with a principle. “It’s about mindset. Our customers are style-led, open-minded, and conscious. They love fashion but don’t want overflowing wardrobes. They value flexibility, variety, and smarter ways to shop.”
That mindset shift is relatively new, but growing fast. “When I first started, a lot of people didn’t fully get it. Now renting outfits has become fun and desirable,” Gunn says. “Rising prices, increased awareness around conscious shopping, and social media have all played a huge role in shifting that mindset.”
In the UAE specifically, people are more open. “The UAE has been way more receptive than people expect,” she notes. “People care more about the experience and how fun it is, how they feel wearing something, than whether they own it.”
This brings us back to Rama Duwaji’s boots. What could’ve been dismissed as a minor styling detail ended up signalling a larger shift in how power, taste, and fashion circulate. As Gunn puts it when defining circular fashion simply, “It’s about keeping clothes in use for as long as possible… don’t stop loving fashion, just love it better.”
Sometimes, the most radical thing you can wear is not new, but borrowed.